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Say what you want about the President but this is a whole lot of awesome. There will be no keeping people from moving here now, especially the really smart ones.
I was sort of tongue-in-cheek with the Silicon Valley reference but truth be told, we're already sort of right behind them and perfectly positioned to further expand. We have the great university system funneling talent, we have entrenched technology, biotech and pharmaceuticals businesses and a way more attractive cost-of-living. Announcements like today will only serve to further enhance RTP's reputation and that's ultimately a good thing.
Industries which have been contracting for some time now, actually. Rollbacks in gov't reimbursements ensure that will be happening well into the future. It's good the investment is going to academic institutions because private sector investment in R&D has plummeted. Without a major innovation, there will be alot more unemployed scientists and engineers in the future..
On a scale to nothing- to landing a major portion of the EPA in RTP in the 1960s, where will this fall?
Assuming 1 = the President had said nothing yesterday and 10 = both IBM and the EPA coming to RTP in the 1960s, yesterday's announcement was about a 3. The Triangle is quietly building a nice presence in smart grid technology. That said, the Triangle/RTP is nothing like SV. It doesn't have to be, and it shouldn't aspire to be.
Industries which have been contracting for some time now, actually. Rollbacks in gov't reimbursements ensure that will be happening well into the future. It's good the investment is going to academic institutions because private sector investment in R&D has plummeted. Without a major innovation, there will be alot more unemployed scientists and engineers in the future..
Your first claim struck me as a little odd so I looked it up and as I expected, both industries have been growing faster than the rest of the economy. Perhaps the local industry has been contracting in that area but I don't have data on that. It's true that companies aren't investing enough (IMO) in R&D. They want the federal government and academia (and ultimately the taxpayer) to foot the bill for basic research, and then they take swipes at the the lack of "job training" the students receive and the cost of education.
Anyway, this is great news for RTP and NCSU. I think the title of this thread is a bit overboard but this may help to rebuild some of the local hardware industry which seems to be slipping away.
I have this book called the Secrets of Silicon Valley. It's a very interesting read. It talks about all of things that contribute to why Silicon Valley is what it is. It discusses why places such as Route 128 in Boston, Research Triangle Park in North Carolina, and Dulles Corridor (Northern Virginia) failed to become like Silicon Valley. There are a lot of things involved .. huge amount of investors, culture (innovative / risk taking / willing to fail vs conservative), startups, top notch universities that contribute, the beautiful Mediterranean environment, a world class near by city, friendly laid back but very smart people, and on and on. It discusses how other areas have some of the qualities but not all of them. Worth checking out.
I used to live near Seattle ("Silicon Forrest") and have spent lots of time in Austin ("Silicon Hills"). Those cities look they are most likely to be the next Silicon Valleys. In fact, in many ways they already are. Seattle has Microsoft, Amazon, Disney Interactive, and countless other companies, startups, more billionaires, millionaires, investors than you can shake a stick at, otherworldly geography, an entrepreneurial spirit, an incredible foreign port city near by (Vancouver, British Columbia), a SciFi museum started by Paul Allen (Microsoft) that has R2D2 and the queen alien from Aliens, and on and on. At South by Southwest I saw Silicon Valley start ups discussing how they could move to and/or open operations in Austin. These are fun, exciting cities that young people dream about moving to. I would love to see the Triangle become an exciting tech hub because it's close to family, but it's a quite a bit further down the line than these other cities.
Last edited by VASpaceMan; 01-16-2014 at 06:46 AM..
Might have to check out that book. Silicon Valley has a distinct attraction, magnitude, and inertia not seen elsewhere. I'm glad to see the Triangle growing in tech startups and this investment is a big deal for the area. I hope that this news encourages the region to continue to invest in effective and efficient planning, namely the link between land use and transportation.
I was sort of tongue-in-cheek with the Silicon Valley reference but truth be told, we're already sort of right behind them and perfectly positioned to further expand. We have the great university system funneling talent, we have entrenched technology, biotech and pharmaceuticals businesses and a way more attractive cost-of-living. Announcements like today will only serve to further enhance RTP's reputation and that's ultimately a good thing.
RTP has been "The Silicon Valley of the Southeast" for a couple of decades now; it just grew a little bit in scale. But still not like the real SV. However, more and more companies have anchor offices in both places. But VASpaceman is correct in that the climate--both scientific and social--of the San Jose area beats anything we will have here. And with NC in the news so much lately for regressing into the 1950s on so many things, the very risk-taking, young, creative types required to build this kind of industry and who are being wooed by multiple companies including SV will to at least some degree see what's happening politically here and decline the offer for a more open-minded state.
RTP has been "The Silicon Valley of the Southeast" for a couple of decades now; it just grew a little bit in scale. But still not like the real SV. However, more and more companies have anchor offices in both places. But VASpaceman is correct in that the climate--both scientific and social--of the San Jose area beats anything we will have here. And with NC in the news so much lately for regressing into the 1950s on so many things, the very risk-taking, young, creative types required to build this kind of industry and who are being wooed by multiple companies including SV will to at least some degree see what's happening politically here and decline the offer for a more open-minded state.
I hate the traffic in San Jose, and I really hate the looks of the wires hanging across so many of the intersections where there are trains... I'd have to live next door to my place of employ to live there.
That said, it has an adorable downtown area. Lovely, really.
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but this may help to rebuild some of the local hardware industry which seems to be slipping away.
Secrets of Silicon Valley
